BPO articles

A new piece of legislation introduced in the US Senate, backed by technology giants like Microsoft and Facebook, has sought to increase the annual H1B visa quota to encourage the migration of talented engineers to the United States.

US technology trade groups representing Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Google have urged the Trump administration to retain an Obama-era rule that allows some spouses of H-1B visa holders, including Indians, to also work legally in America.

Business and tech industry groups — representing Amazon.com Inc., Google, Visa Inc. and other companies — are urging the Trump administration not to halt work authorisations for spouses of immigrants who have specialty worker H-1B visas and are seeking permanent residency.

The information technology (IT) sector is relieved that there will be no disruption in projects for clients and the movement of people back to India, after the US government clarified that it didn’t intend to bring any regulatory changes to force H1B visa holders out of the country.

Asserting that H-1B visa holders drive innovation and help build and strengthen the American economy, top US lawmakers on Tuesday backed the Trump administration’s decision that it was not considering any proposal which would force such people to leave the country.

Indian-Americans on Wednesday welcomed the Trump Administration’s decision of not blocking extensions to H-1B visas, saying the “devastating” move would have caused “unprecedented” brain drain and hurt American businesses.

Amid reports of the US administration’s plans to introduce stricter norms for issuance of H1-B visas, which are largely availed by Indian IT firms, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) has voiced its opposition to the move.